Ithaca Chosen to Win Seventh Straight Empire 8 Softball Title
February 26, 2008
ROCHESTER, NY – Six-time defending conference champion Ithaca College was selected to capture the title again in the Empire 8 Softball Preseason Coaches Poll. The Bombers, who recorded 35 wins last season and finished third in the NCAA Northeast Regional, are seeking their eighth trip in 13 years to the NCAA Division III Softball World Series.
Ithaca is ranked ninth in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association preseason poll and returns five first-team all-conference players, including senior pitchers Nicole Cade and Carly Myers. Cade, the 2007 Empire 8 Pitcher of the Year, posted a 20-4 record with a 1.26 earned run average overall. She won all seven of her decisions in conference play, including two in the Empire 8 tournament when she did not allow a run in 18 innings. Myers finished the season with a 0.95 earned run average in 111 innings.
Senior middle infielders Jessica Stangarone and Erica Cutpsec return after repeating as first-team all-conference players last season. Stangarone, a three-time first-team selection, hit .374 last year, while the two-time first-team selection Cutspec batted .392. Sophomore first baseman Cait Ryan was a first-team selection in her rookie season.
St. John Fisher College, which handed Ithaca its first Empire 8 tournament loss in conference history last season, is picked to finish second this season. The Cardinals return senior all-conference first-team selections Nicole Watkins and Nicole Middleton. Watkins, an outfielder, batted .371 in 34 games last season, and third baseman Middleton hit .303.
Alfred University, which just missed the conference tournament in 2007, is the coaches’ choice to place third this season.
The Saxons won a school-record 23 games last season and advanced to the ECAC Upstate Championship title game. Sophomore leftfielder/starting pitcher Holly Seidewand batted .350 with a single-season school-record 43 hits and earned second-team all-conference honors.
Only two points separated the next three teams in the preseason poll with Utica College the choice to finish in fourth place, just ahead of Rochester Institute of Technology and Nazareth College.
Utica returns first-team all-conference players Brittany Johnson and Andrea Curley. Johnson hit .357 a year ago and Curley, an ECAC Upstate All-Star, batted .352 and earned eight wins on the mound.
Seniors Breana Sniezek and Stephanie Nailos return for RIT after earning all-conference recognition last season. Sniezek batted .339 in 2007 with a team-leading 41 hits and 22 runs. The Tigers finished third last year and reached the conference semifinals.
Junior first baseman Lizzie Barlow earned second-team all-conference honors in the first varsity season for Nazareth College. She batted .367 in conference play.
Elmira College tied Nazareth in the conference standings a year ago and features 10 first-year players this season.
2008 Empire 8 Softball Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Ithaca College 36 points
2. St. John Fisher College 31
3. Alfred University 22
4. Utica College 18
5. RIT 17
6. Nazareth College 16
7. Elmira College 7